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Paul ends chapter eleven criticizing those in the Corinthian church who are participating in Holy Communion with selfish and self-centered motives. Communion is meant to build up the Body of Christ so that the Body might go out and be God’s righteousness in the world; it is intended to make us one in the Lord. This is not what was happening in Corinth; they seem to have forgotten who they have become in Christ Jesus and have lost their way. Of course, this misunderstanding of the meaning and purpose of the Lord’s Table is merely indicative of Corinth’s overarching problem of self-centeredness and pride. They even are using the spiritual gifts with which God has provided them to jockey for position. 

Paul leaves the Corinthians no room to brag. Any positive assertion—any spiritual gift—is from the Spirit of God. They have come their faith in God through Christ Jesus and the presence of the Spirit. This is good-old prevenient grace: We can choose God only because God has made it possible for us to do so. It is unlikely that anyone in the Corinthian church as stating that “Jesus is cursed,” although no one can say for certain, one way or the other. Here, Paul is making the point that it is because of the presence of the Spirit that the Corinthians church even exists. The Spirit will make no one curse Jesus, and only the Spirit can allow one to bless Jesus. Paul couches this discussion on the differing gifts in that same Spirit.

The Corinthians have used their wisdom, their baptism, their daily practices, and even the Lord’s Supper to separate and distinguish themselves one from the other. All in an attempt say, “I am better than you.” So, holier-than-thouism has been alive and active for a long time. So far, Paul has been able to stress oneness in Corinthian church: one baptism, one Lord, one table, one faith. But with differing spiritual gifts being present in the church—in fact being necessary in it—Paul may have his work cut out for him. Paul tells the Corinthians that although they possess different gifts, the foundation of all of them is in ONE Spirit. Like the ability to say that “Jesus is Lord,” none have a right to claim any special status, though they really want to. “A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good…distributing to each person as he wills.” Additionally, these differing gifts are active only because the Spirit remains active in Corinthians and that is only “for the common good.” 

Like Holy Communion which doesn’t even exist if it is not being used to build community, if a believer is attempting to use his or her gift for any other purpose than for the common good, the “spiritual” part will be missing, since the Spirit “is active…distributing to each person as he wills.” This is a serious problem in the Church today in my estimation. We often assume that the Spirit is with us, that God is on our side, regardless of our motivations and purposes. Only God gives us the ability to say yes, and only God can empower us to do what He wills. And if we aren’t seeking the same thing that God is, why would be reasonable for us to assume that He is going to send His Spirit, His power to us? 

When we list these gifts of the Spirit, these charismata, it is clearly evident how they could be used to elevate the status and standing of individuals within the church: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment between spirits, speaking different languages, and interpreting different languages. These gifts, it appears, have been present at one time or another in the Corinthian church—and have likely been misunderstood at best and abused at worst—particularly, it seems, the gift of tongues, or glossolalia. Interestingly, Paul lists faith as a gift of the Spirit, so it is something that every Corinthian has. So, like all the other gifts, faith is given by God for a purpose, and we should expect that if our faith is useless it, too, can be taken away. (Just something to think about.)

I will not go into detail about each, specific charismata here and now, because this is not Paul’s point for mentioning them. His point he makes evidently clear: All gifts that are given by God come with strings attached—and none of those strings are for any individual believer to lord his or her gift over others. This is made quite clear in verses twelve and thirteen.

Charismata have been given to the Corinthian church to bring it together to work toward a single goal. And they are given for reasons only God knows to whomever God desires, “Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free”. 

Paul dishes out some pastoral theology here that we should probably heed. Why do we Christians insist on judging ourselves through comparison to other Christians? This applies equally to our own feelings of inadequacy and to our own feelings of superiority. 

Since all Christians are different, their charismata will also differ. And the Body of Christ requires all to function as they have been gifted for the sake of the mission of the God’s kingdom. I picture Mike Witkowski, but even there he is more than just an eye. Yes, the congregation’s members must be different and their functions distinguishable, but not one of them is better. 

Interestingly, Paul states that, if anything, those parts of the Body, those spiritual gifts and acts of service, that are “less honorable” are “treated with greater respect”. I’ll assume you know of what body parts he speaks of here. But they are parts of the body that, if they were not functioning properly life would become infinitely more difficult and unpleasant. I can’t help but think about Forrest Gump’s Lt. Dan. “There are two standing rules in this outfit. One, take care of your feet. Two, don’t go doing something stupid, like getting yourself killed.” Maybe we should start calling him Lt. Paul. 

How the church today should heed this teaching without trying to caveat it. The Corinthians should be working to become more involved with one another’s faith; they should be striving to become more empathic and less egocentric. Empathy is missing in our world today—one that is fractured and fighting—one where every part demands that every other part submit to it—and, sadly, it is a quality lacking in the Church today. I wish I could argue that its absence is the main indication that Church has become nothing more than social club—albeit one that uses religious words—but we all know from experience that Christians oft times treat one another worse than they do people they fraternize with socially. 

Here in this final section of the chapter, Paul appears to contradict himself at first glance. He ranks eight charismata: “This is the one we should be striving to possess.” What about everyone different, equal, and necessary? It is here, however, that Paul gives us a glimpse of what specifically is the Corinthians’ problem concerning charismata: speaking in tongues. This spiritual gift is desired more than any other gift by the Corinthians. We aren’t told why this is, exactly, but I will hazard a guess: Speaking in *tongues is showy, incredibly unique, and isn’t very costly to the gift’s recipient. What more desirable gift would there be for a Corinthian considering what we have learned about them thus far in Paul’s letter?